13) Yellow Submarine
(Yellow Submarine
) - I know it's not that great compared to the rest of the tracks in Revolver
, but in an album as unimpressive as Yellow Submarine
, it may even be called a highlight. it's one of the better silly songs by them, one of the most charming Ringo performances, and John's comedy is well defined on the ad libs he executes throughout the whole narrative. I think it is experimental as any other track on Revolver
, it's just not a banger, it has some value however. that being said... the fact it's a repeated track and that it's an opener totally floods any charm the song had inside the context of Revolver
. 5/10

12) A Hard Day's Night
(A Hard Day's Night
) - I like the first chord, but the rest of the song is too much of a early Beatles cliché. and the melodies aren't good enough to hold it in my list of good openers. taking into account the amount of popularity this track alone has, it's kind of underwhelming. 5/10

11) No Reply
(Beatles For Sale
) - I like how it has a progression and it reaches a pseudo-climatic field. but, it is not one of the best tracks on the album, and this is not much of a ground-breaking album either, so No Reply
stands as a bit of a dull point on Beatles For Sale
. 6/10

9) Help
! (Help
!) - there's a dilemma I have with Help
! because it's not a bad song at all, it's quite decent. but I once heard Lennon say the song was an actual cry for help in disguise, even to him. and that he saw it as a wasted opportunity to make a nice guitar or piano ballad. the incapability of John to realize he could do that speaks for the problems with the album itself. Help
! seems, as an LP, as the Beatles struggling to realize what they were capable to do, and that they would go on to discover with Bob Dylan (Rubber Soul
), drugs (Revolver
) and the Hippie Movement (Sgt. Pepper
). Help
! as a wasted opportunity just seems to be a crystal clear reflection of that impotence. 6/10

8) Magical Mystery Tour
(Magical Mystery Tour
) - a little too weird. the progression of the song is fairly interesting and the editing it nuts. so it's not like they don't give stuff to look at. it is kind of exciting, because you know there are definitely better songs coming up. one of the reasons I love Magical Mystery Tour
as an album is how it holds the best material for the latter part, here exemplified in the opener. 6/10

7) It Won't Be Long
(With the Beatles) - still not a favourite of mine. regardless it is better than the ones mentioned above. it is a She Loves You
re-do, not as good as its original, and with not that many unique qualities. still, in the context of With the Beatles itself, it has some of the best melodies on the album, and their energy and crafting is decent. 6/10

6) I Saw Her Standing There
(Please Please Me
) - this one's kind of a significant spot, because even though the song might not be one of the best songs by the Beatles, it expresses nicely the kick of their career being the first song on any album by them. it has energy pace, rhythm. but it is not a career highlight either. 7/10

4) Come Together
(Abbey Road
) - hard-hitting. I find some of the production aspects to be a bit dry, and the chorus to be kind of a no brainer. but the way it kicks off the album is absolutely fitting, that bass-drum combination is sweet as sugar and hard as rock. the musical tension is unbelievable. to the musical wonder that is Abbey Road
, it's a great little show-off. 7/10

3) Back in the U.S.S.R. (The Beatles) - definitely one of their best opener. it's witty, it's silly, it' clean, it's fun. and it holds great melodies and harmony. the points on the song that hit hard are fantastic, and even in the indifferent moments, it still sounds great. I can't help to compare it to such a follow up as Dear Prudence
, which just kills this track in quality. but the comparison and the union via sound-wall that this two songs hold is just a taste of the variety that the White Album
is so critically acclaimed for. in my opinion an opener should show you enough to get excited but not enough to spoil the album. in that case Back in the U.S.S.R. is perfect. 8/10

2) Taxman
(Revolver
) - exciting, upbeat, challenging are some of the words that come to mind when thinking about Revolver
's opening track. it is stellar, it is fast-paced, and it really is a change of pace from Help
! and Rubber Soul
. I have many tracks on Revolver
that I prefer over it, but it is an excellent showcase of what the listener is about to go through. 9/10

1) Sgt. Pepper
's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Sgt. Pepper
's Lonely Hearts Club Band) - yes, definitely. the energy of this two minute rock tune is unprecedented in the band's catalogue. how the guitars clash into each other, and then the chorus strikes this amazing vocal melodies to the trumpets that follow that create a sort of circus environment to the shout-out to "Billy Shears" that moves the song to With A Little Help From My Friends
, this track is short and simple, but just as good as any other track on Sgt. Pepper
, and probably one of the best tracks on the album. 9/10

The following people thank Jules for this post:

lovelyritametermaid, Von Bontee

The Po-Jama People are boring me to pieces

29 March 20207.40am

Dingle Lad

Detroit Rock Citizen

Carnegie Hall

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42

These are rated strictly as album openers, I look at how the lure you into the album and how well they foreshadow the other content. My ratings for them as songs would be quite different.

There's something about the energy, with the fast pace in 'It Won't Be Long
' that makes me really hyped about it and the rest of the album. Same with 'I Saw Her Standing There
' with the very classic 1, 2, 3, fowh! I can just feel the excitement and energy.

'Come together' and 'Back In The USSR
' are such amazing songs and great openers for the exceptional albums they're on.

The middle of my list is quite interchangeable, I struggled to rank those.

In regards to the bottom of my list, I do actually like 'two of us' and 'no reply' as standalone songs but I don't think they are the best openers. 'Magical Mystery Tour
' and 'yellow submarine' I can appreciate occassionally but they're not really my taste - too circus-y/silly.

I don't have a list formally made but 1) "I Saw Her Standing There
" would be at the top and 2) "Drive My Car
" would definitely at least be above "Back to the USSR." Thank you, that's all I have to say (*bows, exits stage right*)

The following people thank lovelyritametermaid for this post:

Von Bontee

"....When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind...."

"....This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around...."

But the Beatles usually had such great openers it would be a lot easier to name the ones you don't like as openers... such as No Reply
, It Won't Be Long
, or Two Of Us
, from my perspective.

What a difference three years makes... I still love A Hard Day's Night
as an opener but I am 180 degrees away right now on No Reply
, I love the way John's voice rips into it to start. And this thread started me thinking about the non-musical starts, like the crowd-and-orchestra tuning up on Sgt. Pepper
, the "I Dig A Pygmy" bit on Let It Be
and the airplane taking off on the White Album
.

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